From a Gift to a Family
by WinterSpark
Summary: A present for his sister. That's what it was supposed to be. He was expecting one of those action figures like those in his sister's room. What he wasn't expecting was a giant crate being delivered into their tiny apartment. How are they going to handle this? Hetalia units fanfic, rated T just to be safe ;)
1. Introduction Chapter

"So... how exactly did this happen?"

The feminine voice asked in confusion from the other side of the call as the young man stood in front of a large crate. He glared at it, wishing it was never standing in the middle of a small, yet empty apartment. Sure, their apartment did have furnitures but it was enough for the both of them. They did not the need to purchase any unnecessary products. Until now apparently.

"Uhh..." He tried to come up with an excuse but couldn't.

"Adik..."

He noticed the darkening tone of her voice and couldn't help but feel a shiver running down his spine. There was _no way_ he was telling her. At least, not until she returned from her job.

"Look, kakak. I think it's fine." He stammered out, speaking quickly. "You don't have to come home early, okay? Bye."

"Wait, wait adi-"

He tapped the 'End Call' button, sighing softly. Glancing at the crate once more, the young sixteen year old grabbed the manual from the table and started flipping through the pages.

"Since my sister's coming home late... I might as well try to activate you..."

 **Several Days Earlier~**

Arissa Iman envied a normal life. At the same time though, she doesn't. For example, she absolutely hated that ringing phone that made her wake up early in the morning. However, she also adored said phone because of its uses, seeing as she always tried to maintan her close to non-existent social life.

Grumbling softly, she tossed around a little more before giving in to that _damn_ phone.

"Senyaplah!" Arissa grabbed the phone and tossed it across the office space she called her bedroom. Luckily, it landed with a soft 'thunk' on a pile of papers. Manuscripts, no doubt. "Telefon bodoh..."

She smirked.

Arissa - 1

Stupid phone - 0

Sighing blissfully, slowly but surely, she fell into the depths of sleep for the second time...

 _Ring-ring_

 _Ring-ring_

 _Ri-_

"Ah! Shut up you stupid phone!" Feeling sleep deprived, she covered her head with her precious pillow, her only solace. At the same time, her brother decided to open the door. In mid motion though, he paused, silently watching the lump on the bed.

"What... did I miss?" He finally said, hiding his smirk.

"Adam!" Arissa gasped, peeking out of the pillow. Her eyes practically screamed 'Help me!'. He, however, let his smirk show and proceeded to close the door. He barely heard the following profanities as he continued on his daily morning routine.

Inside the room, Arissa picked up the phone, a low growl emitting from the thoughts of revenge. She was surprised to see that it wasn't an alarm, but a repeating phone call. Grimacing slightly, she answered the call and cautiously placed the phone at her ear.

"... Hello?"

"Arissa!" A familiar voice replied. Almost instantly, a soft smile bloomed on her face.

"Abang!" She looked around her room, deciding to get ready for her job. She browsed through the closet with one hand, the other holding the phone in place. "Dah lama tak dengar. How are you?"

"Fine. The course is hard but with luck, I can finish it this semester."

Oh, wow. Arissa could not believe it. She started to giggle, a rare occurrence for her.

"Wh-What? Why are you laughing for?"

"Your accent!" Her giggle morphed into a laughter, even making her older brother chuckle. "It's gone British!"

"Yeah, that's what happen when you live here for two years. You tend to pick up their accent."

"Yep." Arissa sighed happily, picking up a plain white long-sleeved shirt. "Anyway, when are you coming back?"

"Don't know. By the end of this year, I'd imagine."

"My god, you're even talking like them."

A sigh. "Arissa?"

"Yes, brother dearest?"

"Did you... prepare that?"

"Of course, aku bukannya orang bodoh." She paused, staring at her anime posters on the wall, especially one in particular. "It took me a while to find it, tapi.. dia mahal sikitlah. "

"I promise to pay you when I get back."

"It's okay. After all..."

"Yes?"

"Never mind. I have to work soon."

"Alright then. Goodbye."

"Bye.." Arissa listened as he hung up. Sighing softly, she glanced back at the Hetalia poster, an anime she loved to watched before she was overloaded with her college and job. She still loved the anime even now, it was just that she didn't have time to watch as much episodes as before.

With that thought, she hummed and searched through the black hole of her closet.

...

Meanwhile, Adam Iman sat in the kitchen, munching on his breakfast as he mindlessly surfed through the Internet on his laptop. It was a Saturday, so he didn't need to wake up so early in the morning. But still, it became a force of habit since it involves his morning school.

The messy-haired brunette drank his coffee, opening a new tab when a sudden thought occurred to him.

Arissa's birthday. His sister's birthday.

It was next week. Or specifically, Friday next week.

His sister probably didn't even realised that fact.

"Crap..." He muttered, hands hovering above the keyboard. "What to get for her ah?"

At that moment, Arissa emerged from her bedroom, grumbling and yawning. The twenty year old woman wore a simple white blouse with her mocha cardigan, complete with skinny blue jeans. Her long black hair was tied in a single ponytail. He tensed, clicking on the mouse quickly to open the previous tab.

"Adik..." She slowly walked to the cabinets, taking out her packet of tea. "I will kill you for what you've done."

Adam chuckled nervously, scratching his head. Just let her have her tea and she would be back to normal. "I'm sure you will."

"Mmm." Arissa sipped her tea, sighing at the warmth. "Tea.. What a saviour."

"Sure it is." He rolled his eyes, drinking the last of his coffee. His sister made a 'tsk' noise in annoyance.

"Coffee addict."

"British lover."

"Lazy asshat."

"Workaholic."

"Apa-apalah." She waved a hand in a dismissal motion. "Anyway, next week is going to be a busy week since I have a lot of work to do. So just cook whatever, ok?"

"Sure." Adam grinned then. "The chef is in the house."

"On second thought, nah." Grinning silently, the older of the pair raised her cup to her lips. "Forget it. I don't want you burning down the entire block."

Ouch. "That hurt, Arissa." He mockingly placed a hand on his chest. Arissa glared at him.

"It's supposed to hurt." Placing the cup in the sink, she faced him with a frown on her face. "I'll have to come back late. Around ten or so."

 _At least ten huh?_ He made a mental note, remembering about the birthday. He had a lot of time, that was good.

"So.." He started slowly. "Since tomorrow is a Sunday, you have any plans or not?"

"Plans?" She paused, thinking. "Well... I've been wanting to watch Hetalia lah. You remember that anime, right?"

Hetalia. Hetalia. Wait.. isn't it that anime?

"You never stop talking about it."

"Yeah.." A fond smile seemed to appear for a moment. "They're the only reason I love history."

"So I've heard." _Okay,_ he thought, _she still likes that anime. I wonder if there's something on the Internet..._

From what he could remember, she had always complain about the prices online since the merchandise was practically non-existent in their country.

Arissa walked to the entrance of the flat, carrying her bag. "I'm coming back late today also, ok? See you."

"Mmm. Bye."

With a slam of the door, he turned his gazed back to his laptop, reopening the tab he was using. Adam typed in the words 'hetalia merchandise' and started scrolling through the pages. Until he stopped at one particular website that caught his interest.

"Hetalia units, huh? I wonder what it is..."

* * *

 **Oh, brother dearest. Did you not know what they are? I pity you.**

 **Alright so... I'm not new at writing, but I am new to writing fanfictions regarding Hetalia. There's a reason I feel... hesitant to do this. Mainly because of how I'm afraid to mess up the characters, since Hetalia is a sincerely unique anime. That and I'm not good at comedy.**

 **I don't exactly know where I'm going with this, I'm just going along with my mind right now.**

 **Chapter I will be posted soon. Hopefully.**

 **Notes/Translation.**

 **Malay**

 **Adik - Little brother/sister**

 **Kakak - Big sister**

 **Abang - Big brother**

 **"Senyaplah!" - Quiet lah!**

 **"Telefon bodoh." - Stupid phone.**

 **"Aku bukannya orang bodoh." - I'm not an idiot.(Something like that.)**

 **"Tapi, dia mahal sikitlah." - But it's a little expensive lah.**

 **"-lah" - It's actually a slang, I guess you can say. Like China's "aru" at the end of the sentence, it doesn't actually mean anything significant. It's very addictive way of speaking and most of the time, we didn't even realise we said it. Yeah.**

 **Just imagine if England come to my country. Heh. He would be horrified by the lack of grammar we use. I'm only toning it down because I don't like grammar mistakes.**


	2. And So It Arrives

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor do I own the manuals used. I only own my characters and the plot.**

* * *

 _"Look, kakak. I think it's fine." He stammered out, speaking quickly. "You don't have to come home early, okay? Bye."_

"Wait, wait adi-" A long beep told Arissa that he hung up. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, tapping on her phone in an attempt to call him again. "Typical kids these days. Got no respect."

"Aris, apa terjadi?" A voice behind her made her turn her attention. It was her friend and colleague, Sabrina. "You sound worried."

"Worried? Well I am worried." The beep continued on, making the black haired woman sigh and hung up, placing the phone in her pocket. "Worried about what he brought this time."

"Tak apa, kan nanti boleh jual..."

"You think I'm that kind of a person is it? I'm not going to sell my brother's stuff!"

Sabrina shrugged, shaking her head almost disappointingly. "Your loss. I'm only saying because you need the money, ok?"

Arissa stared at her Chinese friend, frowning. "You're a bad influence, you know that?"

"It's a gift."

"More like a curse.." Just then, one of their customers raised their hands. Arissa faked a smile, calling. "Just a moment!"

"Do you think I can take an early leave?" She said in a hushed tone, grabbing the menu from the receipt table.

Sabrina shook her head. "Probably not. We're already understaffed. I don't think we can handle another leave."

"I see." She sighed. "I need to get back to work. All these overtime are driving me crazy.."

"Be sure to release your inner French!" The Chinese called as she walked away. The black haired woman merely rolled her eyes.

…

* * *

 **MATTHEW WILLIAMS: User Guide and Manual**

 **CONGRATULATIONS!** You've just purchased a MATTHEW WILLIAMS unit of your very own! To ensure that you use your new buy to the very best of his abilities and that you avoid painful, unexpected brushes with death, we've provided you with this manual.

* * *

"What the hell?" Adam leaned back on the chair he sat on. After the previous call had ended, he received another from his sister, though he didn't answer. It would be best to leave her alone with her busy job.

* * *

Name: Matthew Williams. Will respond to "Canada" – actually, to practically anything. He'll be overjoyed that you remembered him.

* * *

"So he's Canada, huh?" He frowned as he remembered the last sentence of the previous paragraph. "I thought Canadians are supposed to be peaceful. 'He'll be overjoyed that you remembered him'. Does that meant that he was ignored? Poor guy."

* * *

Age: 20

Place of Manufacture: Ottawa, Canada

Height: 5'10"

Weight: N/A

Length: Canada's not a big country for no reason…

* * *

"…Let's just skip this." Frowning deeper, he flipped a few pages. "No wonder sis likes anime. Who the hell wrote this? Ah, here we go."

* * *

 **Removal of your MATTHEW WILLIAMS from Packaging:**

MATTHEW WILLIAMS is one of our kindest, most stable units, but anyone can have a bad morning! We urge you to take extreme caution when trying to reprogram or unpack him; to avoid any unfortunate injuries, we have complied a list of ways to wake your unit up.

* * *

"So I can choose? Sweet. Let's see.."

* * *

1\. Play the Canadian anthem, or speak any dialect loudly by the box. He will wake up happily, and after you insist that you can see him, he will be so ecstatic that you can reprogram him directly.

2\. Cook French or Canadian food (poutine is a suggestion). While he eats, you can reprogram him.

3\. For more modern musics. If you blare American pop music, MATTHEW WILLIAMS will shout for ALFRED F. JONES to turn down that horrible screeching (especially if the singer in question is Miley Cyrus), and he will be a bit grumpy when he gets up; you can also play Justin Bieber, to which MATTHEW WILLIAMS will apologize profusely as you reprogram him; a third option is to play Lady Gaga, to which MATTHEW WILLIAMS will insist that they are not dating.

4\. Turn on an ice hockey game and put the volume loud enough for you to hear it down the street – which is where MATTHEW WILLIAMS' box should preferably be, to avoid any injuries caused by the box breaking open as MATTHEW WILLIAMS dashes to watch the game.

5\. Start your KUMAJIROU unit up. MATTHEW WILLIAMS will get up immediately.

* * *

"So three is a big no." He murmured. "That leaves- Wait what's this?"

* * *

 **Reprogramming**

After successfully waking up your unit, you may reprogram him to any of the following settings:

 _Quiet (default)_

 _Snarky (default)_

 _Hipster_

 _French_

 _MANADA (locked)_

 _WWII-Era (locked)_

MATTHEW WILLIAMS comes, by default, in _Quiet_ and _Snarky_. These modes entail that you will ignore or simply not catch several witty comments which would have you bursting with laughter; MATTHEW WILLIAMS' meek nature and soft voice have made him used to being overlooked, and he will not do anything if you ask him to repeat his statement five times.

 _Hipster_ is unlocked by either giving him weed or giving him money to buy weed. He'll throw out his wardrobe and probably whore himself out to buy low-riding jeans, v-neck shirts, baggy jackets, and emo frame glasses.

Another unlockable mode is _French_ , which is really little else than a seductive MATTHEW WILLIAMS unit who purrs sweet nothings (and sometimes curse words, depending on the victim) in French and wears fashionably revealing clothes, instead of comfortably kid-friendly ones. This unit is unlocked at random – sometimes leaving him with an IVAN BRAGINSKI or ALFRED F. JONES unit does the trick, but other times it doesn't. It depends on how MATTHEW WILLIAMS feels, and be warned that laspes into this mode can be extremely frightening. Growing up with FRANCIS BONNEFOIS had to leave a mark, after all.

One of the-

* * *

"Alright." Adam snapped the book shut, sighing. "Enough reading for today."

He rubbed his temple, feeling a migraine rising. Why the hell did he choose that website?

Oh yeah. It was because that _stupid_ contest that caught his attention. Free Prizes, yay. Honestly, he should've known better. Perhaps next time he should surf on Amazon instead.

 _If there was a next time._

He shook his head. Arissa was already suffering enough, he knew that. With Mama and Papa gone, she was the only one working to get income, to pay the bills as well as sending it over to Abang, who need the money more than anything, especially if he was to come back from Europe.

His heart twisted at that thought.

 _"Abang! Janganlah pergi!"_

 _"Minta maaf. Abang janji nanti aku balik, ok?"_

Adam sighed, mentally shaking the memory out of his head. Momentarily, he pondered which will be the best choice. Three is out of the question, that's for sure. As for four, they didn't have any hockey airing in the country.

 _Well, there's we do have hockey,_ He mused, _Except it's not on ice._

Number two.. Well.. They did have the ingredients in the refrigerator, but… Well..

 _It's best if Arissa was the one to cook._

That leaves one and five. He could speak the language, after all, his mother was French. Number five though..

"What's a Kumajirou unit?"

The blue-eyed brunette decided to find out by looking through the extra crate that deliveryman so _kindly_ delivered. He stood up, walking to the left of the large crate, where the smaller crate was located. Opening the top of the crate by merely unlocking the clasp on the side, he was faced with a pleasant surprise.

"It's a... Polar bear?"

A bear was sleeping inside, it's fur white like snow. Adam paused, staring. He had never seen a polar bear in real life before, only on the television the siblings had. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he reached out a hand and gently stroke the fur.

"So soft.." Murmuring, he almost didn't realised the bear waking up. "Ah!"

He retracted his hand, dropping to his sides as he knelt next to the crate. A smile appeared on his lips.

"Hey there, big guy." Again, he reached out a hand, though this time it was for the bear to sniff. Kumajirou did so and looked around it, before looking up at the brunette.

"Who are you?"

Time seemed to paused and resumed again. Adam froze, unable to process the information. Did... Did the bear _just_ talked?

 _It did, didn't it? My God, what kind of anime-_

Before he could think any further, a quiet, almost whispery voice answered.

"I'm Canada."

* * *

 **Thank you, MapleTreesAbove, for leaving that review, as well as that reference note. It gave me just a little bit of courage to write and not abandon like some of my works.**

 **P.s. While aggressive banjo is hilarious, sure, but I'm also into Korean shenanigans.**

 **I felt that I'm giving the reactions correctly. Remember that I'm dealing with a fangirl who got caught up with life and her brother who had heard the anime before but don't really know anything. We'll see how this goes.**

 **I didn't really want to use Canada as the first unit because I know that another, more like recent, also use Canada. My mind gave me two options though. It's either Canada... or Romano...**

 **After a bit of thinking, more like a day of thinking, I finally decided to go with Canada because I felt like he would be easier to work with. Don't get me wrong, I love Romano just as much as you guys.**

 **Also, I kinda like slow stories. To me, it gives me a chance to connect more with the characters, build a slow and steady relationship. So... This might go on longer than expected.**

 **What do you think guys? Do give me a suggestion so that I can have a goal in mind for the future chapters.**

 **Notes/Translation.**

 **"Aris, apa terjadi?" - Aris, what happened?**

 **"Tak apa, kan nanti boleh jual..." - It's alright, you can sell it later...**

 **"Abang! Janganlah pergi!" - Big brother! Please don't go!**

 **"Minta maaf. Abang janji nanti aku balik, ok?" - I'm sorry. I promise I'll be back, ok?**

 **Random fact. I found a really funny picture that is somewhat true. It goes a little like this. Try not to be offensive, alright?**

 **International problem solving techniques.**

 **Germany - Problem = Solution**

 **England - Problem = 5 o'clock tea = Solution**

 **Spain - Problem = Glass of wine = Siesta = Solution**

 **America - Problem = Gun = Solution**

 **Greece - Problem = ? = *confused face* = Problem 10x**

 **Malaysia - Problem = Where got problem?**

 **This is funny because Malaysian, we tend to shove our problems under the carpet, simply because we don't like dealing with it. We're lazy that way..**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	3. A Situation At The Restaurant

What the _hell_ is going on?

"This day is just getting weirder and weirder..." Adam mumbled as he paced back and forth, with Kumajirou watching silently. He scratched the back of his head, a habit he picked up whenever he was nervous. He could see Arissa's wrath burning, especially after what he told her. That was, if he even wished to tell the truth. "What am I going to tell her?"

"E-excuse me? Can you let me out?" That soft voice meekly called out, successfully distracting Adam from his current turmoil.

"Eh? God, I'm so sorry." Mentally shaking his head, the sixteen year old walked towards the crate, unlocking the clasp on the side of the crate. Opening the top of the crate, he stepped back as the unit inside the crate sat up, looking around as he observed quietly.

The man (unit?) before him had wavy blond hair, cutting short just above his shoulders. There was a rebel strand of hair that seemed to curl in front of his face. Behind his round glasses, violet eyes wandered around the tiny apartment. Other than that, the unit was wearing some sort of uniform that seemed to be suited for winter, complete with gloves.

 _Violet.. What a nice colour.._

"No wonder my sister loves you guys." Adam mumbled, catching the attention of the blonde unit. He cleared his throat and smiled, reaching out a hand to help. "Bonjour. Je m'appelle Adam. Let me help you up."

Matthew seemed surprised, probably by the fact that the brunette could see and talking to him. He accepted the hand and the younger man helped him up. "Thank you. You speak French?'

"Yeah. My mother was French." Adam gave a small smirk. "That and my sister tends to speak French when she's tired."

"I-I see."

"Alright. I'm going to make something I can do." He stepped into the kitchen, with Matthew trailing behind him and having Kumajirou in his arms. "You up for some instant noodles?"

"Yes, please." The blonde felt like it was impolite to refuse the offer. Adam smiled and began searching through the cabinets, humming.

…

Arissa sighed and sat down on one of the empty tables, rolling her shoulders. Her boss gave them a small break since rush hour was over. At the same time, she wanted nothing more than to indulge the sweet world of anime. Sabrina slipped into the seat in front of her as she lay her head on the table, yawning.

"Hey." She asked, shaking her friend's shoulders in an attempt to keep Arissa awake. "You know you're driving, right?"

"Bien sûr que oui!" Arissa snapped, looking up at the Chinese when she went silent. "Quoi?"

"You're slipping into French again." Sabrina stood up, walking over to the black haired woman and started tugging her. "Let's get you back home so you can rest. We got a long day tomorrow."

"It's not closing until nine." She deadpanned in English. "We still have a few hours to go."

"Well.. Hin Yee!"

Just then, a small 'boom!' was heard as a trail of black smoke rose out of the kitchen. A high-pitched voice yelled out curses in Chinese. Both Sabrina and Arissa glanced at each other before they dashed into the kitchen.

 _"Aiyah! What the hell is this?"_

 _"I was just cooking!"_

 _"Cooking? This is called cooking!? You gila ah? You can't cook for shit!"_

 _"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to be like this!"_

 _"Get out of my restaurant!"_

The duo entered the cooking area and stepped aside as a man, no older than eighteen, ran out. A petite Chinese followed him out, waving a blackened handkerchief and yelling. "You better not come back ah! Or else you're dead!"

"Oh my." Sabrina mumbled, gasping at the sight of the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Biggest mistake of my life, that's what." She growled out. "That idiot gave in a convincing resume and I ended up making a mistake when I let him cook."

Arissa looked inside and walked towards the site of the disaster. A couple of pots were filled with mysterious liquid which still have smoke rising up. The stoves were burned to black. Honestly, with the right atmosphere and ambience, it could be like a horror movie. She tuned into the conversation when she saw Sabrina trying to calm their manager down.

"Calm down boss!"

"How am I going to calm down huh? I have to pay expenses for this!"

"I'll pay." Arissa blurted out, smiling. The two Chinese looked at her, faces written in disbelief. "I'll pay for the expenses."

"What do you mean by that?" Sabrina said incredulously. "Arissa, you need that money!"

"I'm fine. I can survive a couple of days." She waved a hand in a dismissal motion. "Besides, the costs is not even that high to make a dent in my account."

"That's besides the point!"

"Alright, you two. That's enough!" Hin Yee stepped in between the pair, sensing a long and loud argument about to take place. "Sabrina, get a goddamn mop and start cleaning this place. Arissa, clear the customers out and close the shop. We're going to have to spend the rest of the hours cleaning this place."

"Yes, boss." They muttered together. Sabrina grumpily moved to her destination at the back of the restaurant. Arissa, on the other hand, sighed softly and started to move, though she was stopped by a hand in the shoulder. She looked into the stern gaze of her manager, dark blue meeting chocolate brown.

"You don't have to do it, you know?" She said, her gaze softening. "I know you need it."

"I know." The black haired woman choked out, casting her eyes downwards. "But I'm fine."

Hin Yee looked at the figure of Sabrina, seemingly muttering things to herself, before pulling her employee into the manager's room. "Follow me."

"Y-Yes boss."

She closed the door, and sighed. Arissa looked at her manager, feeling nervous. "Boss? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing." She stared at her employee. "I just need to know, how's things at home?"

"Quoi?" Arissa tugged on a lock of hair, fiddling with it. "W-Well, things have been ok at home. Adam got into arts stream and decided to take the extra class-"

"I mean you."

"M-me? As for me..." Arissa closed her eyes, unable to truthfully answer the question. Quietly, she answered. "I'm fine, boss. Things.. have been a bit problematic, but I can handle it."

 _I have to. I can't fail again._

She was well aware of the fact that she was slightly shaking. Her lower lip trembled with anxiety, and she didn't want to open her eyes.

"I see. You can leave now."

"Y-Yes. Thank you." Just as Arissa was about to leave the room, her manager called out.

"One more thing. Sabrina's taking a leave tomorrow, and since we can't operate with two people, we'll have to close the restaurant. But come anyway, understand? I'll need help with the cooking and taking inventory. I seriously hate it when idiots like that come in."

"I understand.."

"And.."

"Yes?" Arissa gave a tight smile. _Just let me leave already. So I can pretend this never happened._

"Just remember, Arissa. That you don't have to do things by yourself."

For a brief moment, her smile faltered and before it could disappear completely, she closed the door.

 _Calm down.. Calm down.._

She took a deep breath, trying to dispel that aching feeling in her chest.

...

"Sabrina?"

"..."

"Come on, you can't give me the silent treatment."

"Damn right I can."

"Look at that, the woman talks!"

"..."

Arissa sighed through her nose, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. "Look, I know you're mad. But honestly, this is none of your business."

"None of my business?" Sabrina threw her a look, glaring furiously. _That got her to talk_. "None of my business? Arissa, I am your friend."

"So?"

"At least let me have an opinion. You can't just kick out everyone you know."

"In case you didn't know." She gritted out, knuckles whitening. "I was an outcast in school. So I'm sorry if I have a social problem, ok!?"

Arissa didn't mean to yell, but she could not control herself. Sabrina flinched, and the car was filled with uncomfortable silence. It went on until they finally reached the younger's house.

"Out."

"Aris, about what I said-"

"I said out."

Sabrina gave a guilty look before going out. Arissa clicked her tongue before driving away, loosing her grip on the wheel.

"Honestly.. I was fine being alone. It's her fault that she clings to me."

Slowly, she parked her car and turned the engine off. She sighed again, feeling unintentional tears prickling the corner of her eyes. Leaning back in the car seat and closing her eyes, she took breathed deeply as an attempt to calm herself.

"I.. I'm sorry, Sabrina." The black haired woman whispered. "It's my fault that I turned out this way.."

"Dieu ... Quelle nuit .."

* * *

 **Well... Things got a little emotional at the end there.**

 **I originally wanted to put in hints, but... This happened. I'm not kidding when I said I can't do comedy. Normally, this happens when I try.**

 **Look on the bright side, the chapter gets longer. Now, excuse me while I do a bit of research.**

 **Notes/Translation.**

 **French (This is Google translate btw)**

 **"Bonjour. Je m'appelle Adam." - "Hello. My name is Adam."**

 **"Bien sûr que oui!" - "Of course I do!"**

 **"Quoi?" - "What?"**

 **"Dieu ... Quelle nuit .." - "God... What a night..."**

 **Malay**

 **"You gila ah?" - "You crazy ah?"**

 **Random fact. Malaysia have a lot of tribes, per say. Because of that, there's a lot of cultures; different types of dancing, rituals, food and more. Plus, every state have their own accent, so it's kinda easy to determine where you come from depending on your accent.**

 **See ya next chapter!**


	4. A Filter Chapter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, nor do I own the characters used. I merely own the plot and my characters.**

* * *

"Je suis chez moi.."

With a turn of the doorknob, Arissa closed the entrance door and locked it, emitting a satisfying 'click!'. She heaved a sigh and took off her shoes, taking a glance around her apartment. So far, there were nothing that screamed 'idiotic brother'. In fact, seeing the lights unusually turned off was a bit suspicious. She flipped the switch, blinking when the rays of light blinded her for a moment.

"Frère?" She paused and shook her head, remembering to speak English. Her brother did not understand French as well as she did. "Brother, are you home?"

A momentary silence was heard before a crash reached her ears, followed by the sounds of grunting. Adam's door opened, and the messy brunette poked his head out.

"Kakak! Welcome back!" He exited the door and closed it quickly. "How's college?"

Shrugging, she walked past her brother and into the kitchen, loosening her ponytail. "College was fine. Sabrina... We had an argument, but other than that, nothing happened. What happened that made you call me earlier?"

"Oh, that's good." He nodded before freezing. "W-What? Nothing happened, kakak. It was just a stray cat following me home."

"...You mentioned a weird deliveryman."

"Ah, that!" Adam snapped his fingers. "Just a package. Wrong address. Those kinds of things."

"Hmm." She raised a skeptical eyebrow but said nothing. Her brother merely laughed. Uneasily, she noted. Opening the refrigerator, she took out an egg and dug through the vegetables section. "I'm making omelette. You want one?"

"No, it's ok. I need to do my homework, if you don't mind."

"You sure?"

"Yep. Good night, sis."

"'Night, bro."

As Arissa opened the microwave, wanting to defrost the chicken for tomorrow's breakfast, she paused in surprise. There was a stack of well-made, well-cooked pancakes sitting inside. She blinked, wondering if it was an illusion. As far as she knew, her brother, though he would always deny it, couldn't cook. So why..?

"Adik?"

"Yep?" He poked his head out of the door again. "What is it?"

"Why is there a stack of pancakes in here?"

"Uhh..."

...

Adam gave out a sigh of relief as he entered his bedroom, making sure to lock the door. Inside, Matthew sat crossed legged on the bed, reading a novel that Adam... borrowed from his sister's room. He seemed absorbed in the plot so the brunette went to his closet and opened the door before taking out a blanket.

"Help me out here." He grunted as he struggled to carry the object. Matthew glanced up and made a small 'oh' sound as he closed the novel, bookmarking the page by folding the top of the page. Together, they made a substitute bed on the floor using the blanket. A while later, Adam sat at the desk, face scrunched up in frustration as the pencil he held in his left hand made a constant tap on the table.

Matthew noticed this from his position on the bed and stood up. He wondered what made him so annoyed at... He glanced at the clock. One-thirty in the morning. Wow, he hadn't even realised that he lost track of time.

"What are you doing?" At the corner of his eyes, he saw his bear, Kumakichi.. Kumabear? He didn't remember, at the headboard, softly sleeping. Adam looked at him confused before gazing down at the mess of papers and book he had scattered on the table.

"Just.. Maths.." Adam shook his head as if to clear his mind, probably feeling drowsy from staying up so late. "Actually, who am I kidding? It's Add Maths, which is about a hundred times harder than the regular one. Or so what Arissa says at the time. I didn't expect it to be true..."

"C-can I see?" Murmuring ever so quietly, Adam had to strain his ears to hear what the blonde was saying. "I might be able to help. I'm not as good as Alfred though.."

He paused in slight surprise. Matthew wanted to help him? It wasn't that he didn't want help, it was just that he was not used to people offering help. Regularly at school, he was always the one helping out. He pushed back his reading glasses and shifted slightly for the other to observe. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Matthew gave a small smile at him, before focusing on the rather complicated questions. He took the pencil on the table and wrote down the calculations, checking the answer at the back of the book. The brunette could practically see the victorious glint in those violet eyes.

 _Really?_ He peeked at the calculations, rubbing his eye. _On the first try, too?_

Depending on the perspective, Adam supposed the questions were actually easy comparing to the others. Perhaps he was getting too sleepy. He cleared his throat, wanting to get this over with. "Alright. What do I have to do here?"

...

 _Darkness. That was all she could see. Black floor, black walls, black ceiling._

 _Tentatively, she called out, shivering. "H-hello?"_

 _"Hello?" She called out more confidently and rubbed her bare hands to gain warmth from them. "God, where am I?"_

 _Just then, an echoed voice spoke softly._

 _"What are you afraid of?"_

Eyes opening wide open, Arissa gasped and sat upright, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. Clutching the royal purple comforter, she tried to calm her erratic heartbeat.

"What.. What on Earth?" She coughed out the words, shivering despite the fact that she was sweating. Slowly, she began to calm down, heartbeat slowing down as the adrenaline wore off. She wiped the sweat off her face and neck. "What the Hell was that?"

Arissa tried to recall the strange dream. It wasn't even a nightmare, that much she knew. Why was she feeling like this?

"Weird... Why can't I remember it?" The panic and fear she woke up with was replaced with mild confusion. She realised just how thirsty she was. "Maybe I need a glass of water."

With wobbly feet, she struggled to gain stability before reaching for her black cardigan, slipping it on. Opening the door and entering the kitchen, the black haired woman took out a mug from the cupboards, filling it with clear water. She stared at it, and drank. The cool water was a relief to her parched throat. Sighing, she tried to rearrange her jumbled thoughts.

 _Just what was that? A nightmare? I don't think so. A dream? Didn't feel like it. Usually dreams don't make you wake up like that._

A thought began creeping up at the back of her mind. As if confirming her suspicion, the hairs on her arms stood. She glanced around, alarmed. "Is someone there?"

But there was no one around her. It was just her in a dark kitchen with the connecting hallway fluorescent lights glowing brightly. Forcing herself to calm down, she gazed tiredly at the ceiling.

"What if it is?" She whispered wonderingly, a soft but sad smile on her lips. "Was it really a visit from someone?"

Then she shook her head. "I should get some sleep. No use wondering about a dead person visiting me... Even though that sounds weird."

...

 _Knock-knock_

"Adam?"

A voice sounded vaguely like her sister's woke Adam from his sleep. He groaned, rolling so that he was facing the ceiling. Come to think of it, what happened yesterday?

 _Let's see... I went to school, met up with classmates... Then_..

Unknowingly, he drooped his eyes and let out a yawn. He was sure there weren't anything major that happened..

 _Click._

"Adam? Why did you lock the door?"

Above him, on the bed, Matthew, who was already awake from the first knock, reached down and shook him awake. Adam woke up with a jolt, immediately glaring at the other, who shrunked back. _What do you want?_ He mouthed. The Canadian pointed at to the left of him before sitting upright. He moved his gaze to see the door.

"Hellloooo?"

 _Knock_

"I swear to God, Adam, if you're not awake this instant-"

"Yep?!" Adam yelped and sprinted across the bedroom, reaching the entrance as well as turning on the light within five seconds flat. Motioning Matthew to stay back, he opened the door to see his sister there, arms crossed, feet tapping and a stern look on her face. He was dimly aware that she was wearing blue today. A dark blue long sleeved shirt with a large translucent ribbon of the same shade, lighter jeans as well as a black headband on top of her single braid hair. "Aris? Yeah?"

"What time did you sleep last night?"

"Uhh.. Well.." He strained his brain to think properly. "I think it was around twelve?"

"Really?" That tone meant that she wasn't convinced at all.

"Yeah..." _Tap... Tap... Tap..._ "Damn it, kak. Alright, I slept at two, okay? I was doing homework. Happy?"

She smirked and uncrossed her arms, already walking back into the kitchen. "Pleasantly. There's coffee on the table if you want to drink. And get dressed too."

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled, about to close the door before opening them again. "Did you cook anything?"

Arissa stared at him. "Of course I did. I'm human too, I need to eat. I still don't know where that stack of pancakes came from, but I'm pretty sure you didn't cook it. After all, my tongue can taste the difference between edible and inedible food."

"Thanks.." He almost closed the wooden door before her words processed in his mind. "Wait! What do you mean by that? I can cook!"

She snorted and behind him, he could hear Matthew coughed. Adam scowled, mentally cursing at the both of them. "Thanks. I really need that.."

Arissa raised her mug as if to salute him, but he heard a meek 'sorry'. "No problem, brother. I'll do my best. Now, go get dressed."

"Oui, oui." With that he closed the door. Inside, Matthew, no doubt wanting to apologise, opened his mouth to speak but the brunette simply raised three fingers whilst leaning against the door. He watched as the fingers dropped to two, then one-

 _Thump! Ting!_

"Damn, Adam. I didn't teach you to be sarcastic."

"I believe it runs in the family." Adam called out to his sister, who probably snorted again before drinking that tea of hers. Seemingly satisfied, he pushed himself off the entrance. Much more quietly this time, he spoke to the Canadian as he dug through the closet. "Listen, ah, Matt-Can I call you Matt? Matthew seems a bit mouthful and plus, I know at least two other Matthews, so I don't really want to confuse myself. No offense."

"Its okay, you can call me that." Matthew smiled at his nickname, petting his bear. "What was that?"

"Great! Thanks, Matt." Then he paused, turning to face him, puzzled. "What was what? If you mean by the whole spectacle that happened, it's a regular thing between the two of us. If you mean by what was thrown earlier, that's just a squeaky toy."

At his confused face, Adam elaborated. "We used to have a cat. Aris bought it a toy, and it liked it. In the end, it ran away. Don't ask me why. Now which is it? First or second?"

"Both, I guess." The blonde shrugged. "It feels odd. Usually I prefer to be alone, especially when Alfred talks a lot."

"Alfred.. He's your brother, right?" A nod. "I sense a reason behind that."

"Yeah, it's really funny when you think about it." He took off his glasses, observing them as he tried to calm his nerves. "Whenever I tried to talk, they end up not noticing me. And when they do notice me, they'll just end up forgetting me. Even with my previous owners, it's all the same. In the end, I gave up. I got sent back when they called service. So, I won't blame you for forgetting me when the other units come."

The brunette went silent. He seemed to be staring at him with those deep blue eyes, reading glasses taken off. Then, he closed his eyes and muttered. "Arissa and I.. We don't always get along as we did. If it was possible, we prefer to stay away. She was always the moody one, and I'd always harass her."

That was a subtle change of topic. Matthew frowned, deciding if he should go on with the subject or not. "What... Changed?"

"Our parents." Adam gave a forlorn laugh, sniffing. "You noticed there's only two of us, right? There were five of us. There's Mama, Papa, our older brother, Mikail, Arissa and lastly, me. Three years ago, our parents.. passed. It didn't really improve our relationship though, in fact, it got worse. We'd frequently fight, our brother had to break us up. There were pretty much a lot of screaming.

Then.." He trailed off when his voice cracked, wiping his eyes. "One year later, Arissa.. She.. got in an accident. Just a really bad car crash. Almost cost her life. At that time, Mikail already went to UK. That incident made me realise just how lonely I would be if she died that day. It made me regret everything I did to her. She could've left me, but she didn't... What I want to say is that, nobody deserves to be alone, Matthew. Just know that. Even though I didn't really want you, you're here now. So, suck up 'cause you're already part of our family. We won't forget you, I promise. I'm sure Arissa will say the same."

"Thank.. Thank you." Matthew truly felt grateful. He put on his glasses, the blurry surrounding becoming much more clearer. Adam was looking at him with slightly red eyes, chuckling.

"No problem. What were we talking about by the way?"

A knock sounded on the door. His heart leaped to his throat and he looked at the brunette, a similar panicked expression on the other's face. The younger have previously told him to lay low until he found the right time to tell her. Adam cleared his throat. "Yeah?"

"Oh good, you're not sleeping." Arissa's voice held a slight urgency. "I'm leaving, adik. Make sure you don't sleep in this time. Go to school."

"And what make you think I would do that?"

"..Just go to school." As she walked away, they heard her grumbling. "Goddamn little brothers."

"Just what one would expect from a sister, especially one that was raised in a household full of men. Thanks sis."

Adam could imagine her snickering at his remark. After taking out his school shirt from the closet, he glanced at the Canadian. "I seriously hope you don't mind me going to school, Matt, because, while that would be awesome... I need to hand in my homework."

"No, you can go." Matthew had a genuine smile gracing his lips. "Go ahead."

"Then I'll take my leave. There's food in the kitchen, probably in the microwave. There's the TV if you're bored." He grinned. Perhaps having these units here wasn't so bad after all. He turned to leave, but stopped mid-way. "Now I remember. Matt, you wanna follow me go shopping with a friend?"

"Eh?" The blonde, who stood up feeling hungry, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Shopping?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Shopping. I need to-" He glanced at the clock. Six-thirty. "Oh, come on! Don't make me late!"

Matthew watched as he dashed into his sister's bedroom. A sound of a door slamming was the heard. Arissa's room probably have a bathroom, he mused.

Soon, as he was munching on a sandwich on the dining table, the blue-eyed brunette emerged from the bedroom, entering the tiny space and taking out a sandwich from the microwave. He finished it quickly though he seemed to take his time on savouring his coffee, even though it was cold.

"Anyway," He gulped the last of his coffee, placing the mug in the sink. "Expect me to be back around one-thirty. There's leftovers, I think, in the fridge. If you're bored, you can use my laptop. Its under the bed, I won't stop you. And please, I know you won't like this, but please, don't go exploring, whatever you do."

He ran to the main entrance door, grabbing his bag on the way there. "Oh yeah. If you happen to see that man again, do me a favour of smacking him. He won't like it, but it'll satisfy me."

Adam probably didn't register the fact that the Canadian had no clue on who was he talking about. But it didn't matter. It was seven, he was way beyond late. "See ya, Matt!"

With that, the door slammed close and he was gone.

Matthew stood in the hallway, Kumajirou paddling to his side. "It's just us now. Who do you think he was talking about?"

"No idea." The bear replied. Then he placed his front paws on his owner's legs. "I'm hungry."

"Alright," He knelt down to pick him up, walking back into the kitchen. "Let's find something to eat, eh?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Canada."

* * *

 **What do you know? I'm back. I'm not going to abandon this story, I'll give you that much. But I can't give you promises on updates though. I only have time to work on one story, and I chose this. Yay, lucky you. :)**

 **This has been sitting around a while so I decided to finish it. Let me know on what you think of the story so far, you can also choose who should I enter next. Just leave it in the reviews or Pm me.**

 **I.. uh.. I guess I would say I would want to request for a translator, but with my schedule a little bit wonky, I'll put it on hold. :(**

 **Notes/Translation**

 **French~ Taken by my good friend, Google Translate.**

 **"Je suis chez moi.." - "I'm home.."**

 **"Frère?" - "Brother?"**

 **Random fact. Most of Malaysia's education system, in the beginning anyway, was based on England. But of course, we changed it a little to suit our needs. Yay for England. Good heavens, that sounded like sarcasm..**


End file.
